Snippets:
- Lewis Hamilton wins at Monaco GP.
- Audi deletes the TT from its range. R8 and A8, you’re next?
- Opel is making an EV version of the Corsa.
New BMW 1 Series Hatch unveiled
And before you spill your tea, let's all calm down and remember that this is a front wheel drive BMW now. So, no more skids. Not even when the rear axle gets some spin of its own via the obligatory AWD derivatives such as this M135i xDrive iteration.
Of course, this sort of four-wheel drive system is similar to those employed at Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz with the Golf R and A45-AMG respectively. And while neither can be accused of being lairy, you can certainly call them mind-numbingly quick.
Quick stats reveal 225kW and 450Nm from a turbocharged 2.0 litre. That’s a blown 4-cylinder now outputting what their similarly turbo’d six-cylinder engines were only capable of recently. So that’s progress, we guess, but still… RIP straight six. Get yours with the M Performance package and it’ll do 0-100kph in 4.7 seconds so again, progress.
Porsche Speedster
When it comes to cars you ‘don’t need but most certainly want’, the Speedster rendition of a 911 is right at the tippy top. It is in effect a less practical, style-first take on what is a super accomplished sports car, now minus a typical roofline and adorned instead with an open-top interpretation that feels retro.
Where the concept had to make do with a fabric-tonneau cover, this one gets a proper lid. It’s based on a 911 R, so is blessed with the GT3’s four litre 6-cylinder boxer to the tune of 375kW. The Speedster follows a pared back and stripped away ethos. That means it’s light and quick and that’s alright.
We’re sold.
Audi e-tron, in the metal
Audi is going mainstream EV with e-Tron SUV seen here.
The plan is to unleash 4 derivatives by next year and have a full range of 30 cars on this platform by 2025!
Powered via a 95kWh battery mounted beneath the passenger compartment, the e-Tron sends kilowatts and twist to two electric motors (one at each axle) for a combined output of 300kW. That's good for a 0-100kph sprint in 5.7 seconds, which is fairly rapid, and for what promises to have the luxurious cabin experience of an A8 limo.
Nifty!
BMW Garmisch Recreation Concept
This is our new favourite thing, a classic car from 1970 originally unveiled to a stunned Geneva Motor Show audience.
Enter the 2019 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este and with it the perfect opportunity to bring it back, and with similar result. It truly represents what could have been – sort of an alternative reality where BMW pursued a futuristic aesthetic earlier on – who knows what the landscape might have looked like today if it made into production untouched.
The original BMW Garmisch was developed by Bertone as an independent design proposal intended to demonstrate the studio's creativity.
"The original idea came from Nuccio Bertone himself who wanted to consolidate our existing relationship with BMW by designing a surprise show car for the Geneva Motor Show", remembers Marcello Gandini, who was in charge of Bertone's design department at the time.
Building the BMW Garmisch for a second time gave BMW the chance to pay tribute to Gandini, recall one of his lesser-known cars and highlight Bertone's stylistic influence on the evolution of BMW design.
Simply marvellous.
